Weight Loss

If you've been following me on Facebook/Twitter, you'll know that I've started a major weight loss campaign that includes 30 straight days of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. The journey started with a status of mine that read:

Sometimes I think that the only way to lose weight at an accelerated pace is to finally just get mad enough to do it.

I decided that this statement could use a little clarification and back-story. So here it is.

I come from a small family. I mean, when you weight 135 pounds you start to stick out in all the wrong directions kind of family. I have always been a little bit bigger boned, 135 looked pretty ok on me and I tended to stay in that range. I hit my lowest adult weight in college, 130. I was feeling good, eating all I wanted, and basically ruining my health. I, literally, ate a Big Mac meal with a Coke 3 times a week. But because my weight didn't go up I assumed I was fine.

Jordan and I got engaged and I was ecstatic.

But then my body said, "NO MORE MCDONALDS!" And at my wedding I weighed the heaviest I had ever been at 150 lbs.

I know, I know, 150 lbs is small potatoes to many people. I know people whose goal weight is 150 lbs. But because of my small frame, 150 lbs looks morel like 200 lbs (give or take). A healthy weight for my height is anywhere between 115 and 144 lbs.

I worked hard and eventually got down to about 135, then got pregnant.

At the end of my pregnancy I weighed 180 lbs (very normal) and when labor was all said and done and I had lost all that I was going to lose without working at it, I was at 160 lbs. Slowly (very very slowly) I trimmed off 10 lbs. I was feeling pretty happy with that change.

Then came what I will refer to as "The Wedding Dress Incident."

My sister is an aspiring model, and she asked me if she could use my wedding dress for a photo shoot. I said, "Sure!" and thought nothing else about it. Until the pictures showed up on Facebook.

Oh my word. My sister looks better in my wedding dress than I ever did. At first, I burst into tears. And then I got mad. Oh man. Did I get mad.

And so it began.

I have been doing the 30 Day Shred and taking Jillian's Fat Burning pills for the last 5 days. I track my calorie intake almost obsessively and drinking water and green tea like it is my job. I have lost 4 pounds in 6 days and I can already feel my body getting stronger.

I want to lose 1-2 pounds a week. That is the safest way, of course. I hope to be down to 125 sometime in mid-September. When I reach my goal (which may or may not change depending on how I feel about my body) I will be doing a trash the dress session with one of my favorite photographers of all time.

I am excited for many reasons. Not the least of which is the healthy example I have began setting for Noah. It's never too early, in my opinion, to start exercising in front of/with your child.